Primary Concerns show

Primary Concerns

Summary: Explore the 2016 election and today’s political news with host Brian Beutler and his friends from both sides of the aisle. A weekly podcast from the New Republic.

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Podcasts:

 The Republican Party's Descent Into the Dark Ages | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:37:42

It’s hard to boil down all the ways the Trump campaign and presidency have reshaped American political norms into a single conceptual frame. But in his new, best-selling book Devil’s Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and The Storming of the Presidency, Businessweek’s Joshua Green has done just that. He joined New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler in studio to discuss the duo's impact on politics, and whether there’s any going back to how things were before.

 The Republicans' Obamacare 'Waterloo' Moment Has Arrived | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:49:47

Trumpcare is dead! At least for now. Senate Republicans lack sufficient support to repeal and replace Obamacare, or do anything to the health care system on a purely partisan basis. So what happens next? Will Republicans sabotage Obamacare for revenge? Will they feel compelled to stabilize the health care system? And how will congressional Republicans’ passivity toward Trump change now that their legislative agenda is in freefall. Daily Beast politics editor Sam Stein joined New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler in studio to discuss.

 The Trump-Russia Conspiracy Is Real | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:54:45

The Trump campaign’s efforts to collude with the Russian government against Hillary Clinton have now been established. Donald Trump’s son, Don Jr, produced emails on Tuesday that corroborate a meeting where he and the campaign’s top leadership sought compromising information about Clinton, sourced to the Russian government. Trump and his allies have been caught in a full year’s worth of lies. Republican congressional leaders have been caught covering up a conspiracy. The question now is what anti-Trump forces can do to make accountability more likely. Greg Sargent, author of the Washington Post’s Plum Line blog joined us by phone to discuss these issues and more.

 Mitch McConnell's "Unconscionable" Health Care Bill | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:57:16

Former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear discusses the health care policy successes in his state, the threat of the Senate's new health care bill, and a new path forward for Democrats with New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is just a few votes away from passing legislation that would reduce health insurance coverage by 22 million people. Ironically, the impact would be most severe in his home state of Kentucky, where the Affordable Care Act covered half a million people—a huge percent of that state’s population. The person most responsible for that success story is Kentucky’s former governor, Steve Beshear. He joined Primary Concerns by phone from Lexington to discuss GOP efforts to repeal Obamacare, and his prescriptions for a Democratic party revival.

 Fighting the Secret Plan to End Obamacare | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:50:39

Democratic Strategist and CNN Political Analyst Hilary Rosen discusses Democratic strategies to resist AHCA. Republicans are crafting a secret health care bill, and nobody has any idea how to stop them from passing it. President Trump is champing at the bit to fire the Justice Department special counsel investigating him and associates for obstruction of justice, and financial and election-related crimes. In the suburbs of Atlanta, voters will determine Tuesday night whether Democrats flip the conservative sixth district, and create a new benchmark for the political environment Trump’s presidency has created, or not. Here’s how all these stories interlock.

 Comey Is Breaking Trump. Trump Is Breaking the Government. | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:59:07

Brian Beutler and Ron Klain discuss Klain's political history [1:30], his role in response to the Ebola outbreak [12:30], and James Comey's Senate Intelligence committee hearing [28:15]. The Trump administration is roiled by both political and substantive crises. At a basic level, Trump doesn’t know how to run the government, or think in terms of the public interest. And at an acute level, he is mired in the scandal of the century. On Thursday, fired FBI Director James Comey testified that Trump is an abject liar, and without explicitly saying so, left no doubt he believes Trump obstructed justice as well The interaction of these crises is particularly striking to people who have worked in high levels of both politics and governing. Ron Klain was chief of staff to the Vice President in the Obama and Clinton administrations. He joined me in studio to assess this perilous moment.

 The Self-Incrimination of Donald Trump | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:02:16

A lot has changed in the two months since former chief Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller joined New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler to discuss the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign's involvement in Russian election subversion President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey; Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstine appointed Comey’s friend, former FBI director Robert Mueller, to oversee the investigation as Justice Department special counsel; And a large number of leaks points to the likelihood that Trump himself has attempted to obstruct justice. With the similarities to Watergate mounting, we brought Miller back to the program to reassess the scandal and where the investigation might lead.

 If Trump can get away with this, what can't he get away with? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:51:57

Donald Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey in order to obstruct Comey’s Russia investigation has shocked the conscience of nearly everyone in politics. But because Trump’s party controls Congress, it is scarily plausible that he will get away with it. If he does, the harm done to rule of law in the country will be difficult to recover from. Susan Hennessy is a national security studies fellow at the Brookings Institution and managing editor of the website Lawfare. She joined New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler from the Brookings studio to assess the potential damage and what can be done to stop it.

 Senator Chris Murphy's Battle Plan for the Trump Era | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:46:30

All eyes are on the Senate after House Republicans passed the American Health Care Act. Will Senate Republicans follow suit? What can Democrats do to stop them? And what would a repeal of the Affordable Care Act mean for Democratic politics going forward. Brian Beutler sat down with Senator Chris Murphy in his Capitol Hill office to discuss the Republican healthcare sales job, the resistance movement, and how he's adjusted his strategic approach to politics in the Trump era.

 Does Glenn Greenwald owe Brian a Coke? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:23:30

Glenn Greenwald returns to the podcast to discuss what lessons the media, Democrats, and progressives should draw from 2016 as they turn to the elections ahead.

 The Trump Backlash Builds | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:01:40

Massive Democratic over-performance in multiple special elections has captured the attention of both liberals and conservatives wondering whether the Trump backlash will stymie the Republican agenda or even win Democrats control of the House in 2018. Nobody knows if this trend will continue, just as we don't know what the economy will look like in eighteen months, or what Trump himself will do between now and next November. One thing we do know though is that his administration will continue to be bogged down in scandal, including perhaps the biggest scandal in American History. Brian Fallon worked on Capitol Hill and in the Justice Department for years before serving as Hillary Clinton's campaign press secretary. He spoke with New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler about politics, the backlash to Donald Trump and how revelations about the Trump campaign's ties to Russian intelligence are likely to shape both.

 When Your President’s a Fox News Addict | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:52:07

Despite being a notorious grifter, Donald Trump was an unintended mark for Fox News. That’s great news for them. For the rest of us? Alex Pareene and Brian Beutler discuss the collateral damage in episode 51 of Primary Concerns.

 Is This What a Death Spiral Looks LIke? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 01:14:51

Former Principal Deputy Assistant General in the US Department of Justice Civli Rights Division Samuel Bagenstos comes on the show to talk to New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler about the mire of Republicans’ healthcare reform efforts, and how Neil Gorsuch stacks up as a Supreme Court nominee.

 Russia-do about Nothing? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:53:15

Matthew Miller draws on his experience as Director of Public Affairs at the Justice Department under Attorney General Eric Holder to chat with New Republic Editor Brian Beutler about James Comey's words and actions regarding the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails and current investigations into any potential collusions between Russia and the Trump campaign.

 How Many iPhones Will YOU Have to Sell to Afford Trumpcare | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 00:54:34

Huffington Post Senior National Correspondent Jonathan Cohn and New Republic Senior Editor Brian Beutler unpack the Republicans new healthcare bill and compare its legislative process to other more deliberate healthcare legislation.

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